


Iridescent's Shine

by mikimouze16



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Emotional, F/M, Original Character(s), Past Character Death, Plot Twists, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-27
Updated: 2016-03-25
Packaged: 2018-05-16 12:43:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5829406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikimouze16/pseuds/mikimouze16
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I find it's best not to let people get close," She pushed her hair behind her ear looking down at the file in her hand, "It's easier for me to do my job when I don't know the victim." </p><p>The ever-growing meta threat has forced the CCPD to hire a new CSI to help with the overload in the lab. When quite Claire Montgomery enters the scene she all smiles and no sharing. Keeping to herself is all she has known, because when she doesn't a darkness seems to infect those around her. But Barry can see the light in her and is willing to help her shine even though his greatest enemy is still lurking in the shadows.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> The first chapter is a prologue. I hate just starting the story with out a little insight of what is happening and I hate jumping large about of time and scenes inside a single chapter.

There were four of them sitting at the table. Caitlin was next to Barry, and Iris beside her and then Cisco was to his left. They had finished their coffee minutes ago but there was no attempt at leaving, no indication that the conversation was going to end. Barry was picking at a brownie, half eaten, before Iris reached over and pulled the plate towards herself.

“Hey!” He leaned over to take it back but she slapped the back of his hand in reply. Cisco quickly pulled a piece from the corner and popped it into his mouth before Iris could protest. She shot him a look then turned towards Barry, “If you’re not going to eat it, I will.” 

“Is that Captain Cold?” Barry’s perked up and looked out the window. Sure enough he saw the familiar navy blue parka, his gun was in his hand positioned in front of him. Caitlin went to encourage him to follow him but he was gone by the time she opened her mouth. The remaining party ran to the window.

“What are you stealing this time, Cold?” Captain Cold whipped around his gone pointed towards Barry. He shot out but Barry wasn’t in his line of target by the time the ray made contact. There were people gathering around watching, some were running away as fast as they could. Barry could see video cameras and cell phones pointed at the opposing pair and growled in frustration. 

Cold kept up his part of the deal, avoiding hitting any bystanders, but still attempting to to put a kink in the Flash’s day. He shot off another burst, aiming towards Barry feet making him stumble and falling. He shot out once again but Barry had caught himself and moved before the next round could make contact. Cold started to get frustrated himself, Barry had gained speed, his reflexes were faster. He tried to keep his emotions in check but the feeling of defeat was weighing in on his chest. He shot out trying to aim in front of Barry, hoping that the speedster would run into the blast but instead he bent himself backwards sliding right under the blast. 

They both knew it was a mistake the second it happened, there was a loud high pitched yelp. The blast instead of forming around a body, seemed to shoot upward and outward, as if it was surrounding something. There was a silence and Barry and Cold shared a look before both of them walked toward the ice. It appeared to be a dome when they approached it first, but when they walked around the back the ice had splintered to a stop. More ice was surrounded at the base then the ceiling but at the sight of a spilled coffee and light gray cardigan, they knew it was no phenomenon. There was a new meta in Central City.


	2. Welcome to Central City

“Did you catch Cold?” Joe handed Barry a file when he walked in. Barry grabbed it and headed for the stairs sighing and shook his head. Joe caught his arm and looked at him, “What happened?”

“There was a distraction, a possible new meta,” He admitted and started up the stairs. He was halfway up when Joe called out to him again, “Remember: new CSI today!” That was right, Barry thought, the girl from Starling City who graduated from Midway. He felt a pang of loneliness when he thought of Midway, he thought about Patty starting class and unpacking her apartment alone. 

There was a girl standing in the middle of the room when he walked in. She had bright blonde hair that was loosely tied next to her right shoulder. She had fair skin, peach colored cheeks and thick black framed glasses. She was shorter than Barry even with the heels she was wearing. The top she wore was a sheer olive green and she work black skinny jeans. The ends of her jeans were covered by the brown heeled boots she wore. “Uh, Claire?” turning on the ball of her left foot Claire looked at Barry, she smiled. Her eyes, Barry noticed, were a light gray compared to his own hazel ones. 

She stuck her hand out and walked toward him, “You must be Barry, I didn’t want to touch anything till you got here.” The news of a new CSI came in last week, Barry had started cleaning up and organizing things a bit more when the new desk came in. Which he pointed at, it was sitting opposing his, “That is your desk, all nice and clean of my mess.” She chuckled and picked up a box that was sitting by the open door and set it on the stained oak. 

“I hear things are a little more hectic here then in Starling City.” It had stretch towards a half and hour before she attempted a conversation, she was slowly organizing her desk and files. 

“Oh yeah,” Barry who had moved to his desk was typing on his computer, finishing a report from the night before. “New threats,” He called out towards her. 

“Meta-Humans,” he stopped typing and looked up at her, “That’s what they are called, isn’t it?” She put the empty box on top of a tall filing cabinet, when she reached up her shirt hiked up exposing her skin and and a large pink scar. Barry saw a glance and asked before he knew what he was saying.

“Is there something on your back?” She turned and looked at him tucking her undershirt back into her jeans.

“Just a scar from a,” she started to seem distracted and Barry watched her, “uh, um an accident.” 

Barry felt bad for asking, he hadn’t even known her for an hour before he was getting into personal questions, “Oh, I’m sorry.” He shook her head at him and smiled, “It’s the past now,” After that they fell into a mutual silence. She started to hum music and would stop, the awhile later Barry would start to hum himself a different tune. They switched back and forth between different tunes, some that Claire hummed he knew, such as ‘9 to 5’ by Dolly Parton or ‘Landslide’ by Fleetwood Mac. She placed titles to a few songs he hummed, ‘Seasons of Love’ from the Rent musical and ‘Stitches’ by Shawn Mendes. After Barry stopped humming she moved onto a new song, but instead of humming she started to mumbling the lyrics, catching the attention of her coworker. 

“Marry the man today,” it was soft and the words mixed together but Barry listen intently, fingers hovering over the keyboard,”trouble though he may be.” Her voice became clearer. 

“Much as he likes to play, crazy and wild and free,” Her voice was soft and she hit each tune perfectly. Each word she sang flowed softly into the next, legato, he reminded himself was the term that described how smoothly her words flowed together. “Marry the man today, rather than sigh in sorrow, marry the man today, and change his ways tomorrow.” 

“What is that from?” 

She turned and looked at him, “Hm?” 

“The song you were singing, what was it from? I haven’t heard it before,” He was leaning back in his chair now. His hands were resting in his lap thumbs swirling around each other. 

“I didn’t realize I was singing aloud,” a blush formed on the apples of her cheeks, “it was from a musical released in 1950 on Broadway, ‘Guys and Dolls’.” She was thumbing through paper and started humming where she left off. He opened his mouth but he was cut off by his phone ringing. It was Joe, calling him to bring the new girl to the crime scene. 

She had grabbed her coat before he could tell her who it was. Grabbing his jacket he followed her out. She had a car and offered to give Barry a ride. The drive was only ten minutes including the three stoplights that they hit. The radio was on and their conversations was small, Barry pointing out the best Chinese place and Jitters the most popular coffee shop. 

The house was in the suburbs, it was two stories with tan shading and white trim. Bushes were trimmed in a rectangular shape lining the sidewalk that several cops decided to stop and talk. She walked past at least two groups of neighbors talking before she finally made it to the door her case tailing behind her in her hand. Barry had stopped to talk to Joe West asking questions, instead of stopping with him she decided he would catch her up on the scene. 

There were three bodies on the floor. A woman was the furthest from the front door by the kitchen her blood had traveled the grout in the tiles until is hit the carpet. A small boy sharing the same blonde curls as his mother, was lying perpendicular to his mother. Both had a gunshot wound in their chests, the woman had more bullets hole than the child. Finally there was a man, he was closest to the main hallway, he was lying his right hand out holding a gun. 

Claire placed her case down and pulled a pair of white vinyl gloves on to her hands. Barry had finally made his way into the house taking in the scene the same she had, he set his case close to the women. “Joe said the father killed the mother, the kid, then himself.” He walked over pulling a pair of gloves on his hands and kneeled down beside her. 

“Yeah it should be an easy case,” Joe had made his way into the house but she shook her head at him.

“No,” She grabbed the gun moving it out of his grip. “The gun was placed in his hand after he was shot, it would have dropped out of his hand before he landed.” She tilted his head looking at the gunshot wound, the hole angled upwards. Finding the exist she showed it to the two men above her, “ If he shot himself in the head it would be level. Someone shorter than him shot him.” 

“Maybe he was holding the gun at an angle,” Joe countered. Barry had picked up the gun, there was splatter more on the left side than the right meaning it was held with a right hand, he shared his findings with his new partner. 

“He was left handed,” She pulled his left hand up to the two men, “There’s a callous here from holding a pencil.” She stood up and looked at the wall, “the splatter wouldn’t be as significant,” she pointed to the white walls.

Barry moved to where the man would have been standing when he was shot. Claire looked were the blood splatter had hit and took into account for the speed of the bullet. Pointing towards her case she turned to Joe, “ There’s a laser pointer in my case, can you grab it and arrow it down with the same angle of the gunshot wound.” He followed her instructions and when the light hit her at nose level. 

“How tall are you?” Barry asked walking next to her.

“I am 5’10.”

“The shooter was,” he pulled her arms up and moved them to fit the angle, to do so she had to bend down making her seem at least four inches shorter, “About 5’6.”

“He was shot first, taken by surprise, but it worked in the shooters favor.” Still crouching she turned and pointed towards the spots the other two victims were standing based on the blood splatter. “The shooter didn’t walk any further into the house than this spot, there was no need. Whoever did this came her to kill them. You probably won’t find any evidence on the body.”

“What’s that on the floor?” Barry and Claire both looked down, between them was a small distorted rectangle.

They both crouched down, “I think it’s dirt,” Barry replied turning and grabbing Claire’s case seeing as it was closest to him. “What is it from?” He was digging for a bag and tool to scrape up the material when she asked.

“Uh,” he turned back and stopped. His head tilted to the side and he looked at Claire, not at her but what she was wearing. Heels, “I think the shooter was a woman,” he cleaned up the dirt and folded the envelope when he got a call. Cisco’s image popped up and he looked at Joe. Normally he would say it was Flash related but there was a new person and that changed things. 

“Something wrong?”

“I have to go. A friend needs me,” Claire nodded and replied that she would look around some more and let him know what she found. Barry had walked out the door and walked down the block until he determined he was far enough away before he dashed off to STAR Labs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know if you see some typos. I will try to update once a week, if I get busy it might be every other week.


	3. The Nurse's Office

“How many have you closed now?” Barry hadn’t even taken his cowl off before Cisco started to ask questions. He was still panting from his run, his cheeks were flushed and his heartbeat was still trying to even itself out. 

“I just got 5 more closed,” He walked over to the screen that Caitlin and Cisco were standing in front, “Anymore destabilize?” 

“Just two,” Jay had walked into the Cortex with Harry trailing behind him, “So that means we have 32 still open.” Initially they had thought that throwing the capsules into the breeches were closing, which some did close but the others would reopen after several hours or days. Harry and Cisco have been making them and remaking for the past 2 days. Each new design became heavier and Barry went from being able to carry 6 at a time down to 2. If they were to get any heavier he would have to make a stop at STAR Labs every time he needed a new one. 

“Was the new girl at work today?” Barry looked up from the computer and stared at Cisco for a few seconds before he realised that he had moved onto a different topic. His mind wandered to the blonde haired gray eyed girl, he had felt bad for leaving her at the crime scene but a man with the ability to move through mirrors had became a more dire situation than a dead man and his family.

“Yeah. She’s nice, she likes to hum but she has a great eye for small details.”

“Well she called you.” Cisco held out Barry’s phone. 

He listen to the voicemail, she seemed nervous and apologized for calling about work outside of work, but she seemed to find some more evidence that she wanted a new pair of eyes on. 

“...just leave the file on your desk.” After the message ended Barry had it deleted and then changed out of his suit. Joe had made an appearance during the time he stepped out to change. 

“Hey Barr,” Joe had clasped a hand on Barry’s shoulder, “That new girl is way too smart. She hasn’t learned to dumb it down for me yet.” 

“She’s pretty talented.” Barry agreed, but his mind was starting to wander away from the small talk he was having. He wondered why Starling City would let such a talented CSI slip through their fingers. 

Sitting on a balcony 3 miles away from STAR Labs, a blonde was standing on her balcony watching the cars pass by. She had finally felt comfort for the first time in what seemed like a year. There was no one from Starling City looking at her with sympathy or whispering about he as she walked through the Glades. She walked around the city today and no one did a double take as she walked by. Claire had finally felt relaxed for the first time in a long time. 

Now that the day was over and the sun had set she was leaning against the railing of her balcony a wine cooler in one hand and her phone in the other. A text from an old friend had asked how her first day on the job went, she replied with a small description and pocket her phone taking a swig from the bottle. The liquid was sweet and fruity as it slide down her throat. She looked down at the cars, their lights were keeping the road below her illuminated but she was high up enough to escape some of the pollution and see a few stars. Something caught her eye in the cluster of metal, a shadow was weaving in out of the traffic with a blue light trailing it. Unease had started to crawl its way into her chest. But it was gone before she could snap a photo.

Locking the door to her balcony she poured the rest of the wine cooler down the drain and decided the best way to get rid of the unease was to sleep it off. After several hours of tossing and turning her body only gave in and allowed her about 5 hours asleep. When 5:30 rolled around she sighed in defeat and showered. 

The precinct seemed to be dead when she arrived. There was a few people around, some starting their shifts whiles the others got ready to take off. She had swerved in between a couple of officers giving a passing smile but kept moving towards her lab. She slid her card and punched in the number pushing the metal door out of the way. Before she stripped off her coat she had started a pot of coffee in the coffee pot that she had sneaked in after Barry had left work yesterday.

Barry didn’t arrive until 7:15, she didn’t make a comment about how he was late but she did offer him some coffee instead. After pulling off his extra layers had poured some coffee and opened the file that was sitting on his desk. “What time did you get here?” It took Claire a moment to realize that he was asking her a question.

“6:30,” She closed the folder and pulled the next one off the pile into her working space, “Didn’t really sleep.” 

“Oh?”

She lied, she didn’t know Barry. She had known him for less than 24 hours. Instead of telling him about the shadow and uneasy feeling that had made her chest feel tight she commented on how she kept thinking about the case. It wasn’t a total lie, in the shower she had wondered about the man and his murdered family. She had thought about who and why someone would go after a seemingly normal family. 

She confided in Barry about the case, “I pulled up his phone records,” She opened the file that she had left on his desk from the night before. He watched her movements then looked down at the records. A number that has popped on not only the husband’s call log but the wife’s too. Clair flipped the paper to the side and Barry was looking at a photo of a woman, driver’s license photo he noticed. 

“No priors, perfect citizen as far as I can tell, she’s a nurse,” She dug through the papers and pulled out a medical record to the kid. Her finger pointed out a name, Carla Rolando. “She was a nurse for the kid after he was diagnosed with diabetes and Celiac Disease.” After Claire watched him look down at the records, she showed him text messages that Carla and the parents had shared. At first the were questions asking if this was okay to eat, if there was too much sugar here and questions about exercise. After a while they switched to invitations to dinner and family events. The woman, Carla, had weaved herself into the life of the Bright’s.

“Do you think she killed them?” Claire shook her head in disagreement. Her first thought was maybe their relationship had gone sour, something happened that they hadn’t caught. Then she started to look at the physical information, she was too tall, the footprint they had found after Barry had left the scene was too small for her. There was no motive, nothing support that the nurse had turned sour and went after the Bright family, but she did want to pull her into questioning. 

She went over some of the smaller with Barry, they had found Carla’s fingerprints in the house after finding the woman showing up so many times on the call logs. They weren’t where the the family was located and most of the prints they had found were old, covered in a layer of dust. 

A knock on the door had halted Barry and Claire in their conversation. A woman, black curls and dark skin was standing in the doorway. She had a purse pushed underneath her arm and she was still decked in outerwear meaning she had just arrived, “Hi.”

“Iris, Hey,” Barry had pushed the files back into Claire’s hand, She felt out of place, awkward. Barry had pulled the other woman over by the elbow, “This is my partner, Claire.” Claire had taken the other woman’s hand, her skin was soft and warm underneath her own slightly cold hands. 

“My dad made mention of you last night,” When Claire had raised her eyebrow in question Iris laughed, “My dad is Joe West.”

“Ah,” She smiled and moved toward the coffee pot, “He seems very nice. Coffee?” 

“No, already had some, thank you though,” She looked between Barry and Claire, “You know my dad took Barry in when he was 11?” Claire looked at Iris then to Barry. She shook her head, not have heard that information. 

“Iris,” He looked down at the woman with curls, “we’ve just met yesterday. I don’t expect her to know my life story.” She was going to reply when her phone had interrupted her. She told them she had to go and hurried out of the room heels clicking down the hall. 

Claire was the first to speak, “I understand not wanting to tell people something. To keep in the background out of the stage light.” She had moved back to her desk pulling down a box with samples still needing testing. “I’m not going to actively search and find out who you are. The person I need to know, I’m sure you’ll show me.” Sadness started to creep up her spine and wrap itself around her heart. “I’m here because I wanted to start fresh. To not have people look at me and have my past define me. If that’s what you want from me then that’s what you’ll get from me.” She let out a deep breath, “Just know I have things that I’m hiding that I don’t want people to know. So don’t pry.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long. I had a painting that I needed to finish for class. Let me know if you see any mistakes.


	4. Paranoid?

Leonard had always looked over his shoulder, it’s what kept him safe and one step ahead. He could always feel the existence of lingering eyes and cameras. For the past several days Leonard had felt as if someone was watching him. Not all the time, mostly at night when the day has ended or when he was walking down the street. 

Mick had noticed his unease. He watched his friend check over his shoulder more and more but when he would look around there was nothing there. It started affecting his partners planning, no one could be in the room and he could only plan for 30 mins before he had to leave. When Mick had asked Lisa if this had happened before she mumbled a ‘no’ and decided to keep his distance. 

Leonard had finally snapped at the two, his paranoia eating away at his sanity. After that he had set up cameras hidden in the corners when his two companions were gone and the hairs on the back of his neck weren’t standing on end. 

Lisa had felt the presences of the cameras when she came back but decided not to say anything. Mick had decided to stay in his room to avoid the camera’s lens. Leonard felt better sitting in the middle of the living room between two cameras carefully collecting data of the room. 

It had been two days since Leonard had gotten the cameras and Lisa decided to take him out for some coffee. It was mainly because she was going crazy from the hairs on the back of her neck standing up. They had walked to JItters Len keeping his face down and Lisa walking beside him. It wasn’t until the reached the front doors of Jitters did his paranoia start up again. He looked around silently trying to find the prying eyes when he finally settled on a girl with blond hair and gray eyes. She flashed him a smile and turned back to the book in her hand. 

That wasn’t the first time he had seen her. He caught her looking at him from the bus stop when he walked out with Lisa. He saw her walking in front of CCPD when he was scoping his next heist. He bumped into her when he was putting gas in the vehicle he was using. Each time he caught her eyes. Most the time she flashed him a small smile, other times it was agitation or she avoided looking at him at all. When she walked right into him while crossing the street he had snapped at her. 

“Why are you following me?” He hissed at her while she was picking up her spilled coffee and book. She looked up at him with confusion. 

“What?” 

“I keep seeing you. Why are you following me?” 

“Okay, wow, paranoid much?” She had crossed the street with him following her, “It’s called a coincidence. It happens from time to time.” With that she dropped the empty cup in the trash and walked up the steps to CCPD. He looked up and saw Barry Allen looking down at him. He smirked then turned and walked away. 

That night when Leonard was looking through the footage on the computer Lisa had come in yelling at him. “You’re driving Mick and myself crazy!”

“With what?”

“The cameras, acting paranoid, constantly looking over your shoulder? How about you take your pick.” Len had stood up to address his sister when he saw something on the screen in the corner of his eye. He narrowed his eyes and leaned over the chair rewinding the footage.

“You’re not even listening,” she huffed out crossing her arms over her chest rumbling the blue shirt she was wearing. 

“Look at this,” He turned the laptop towards her ignoring her last comment. She leaned closer squinting her eyes. 

“What am I supposed to be seing?” 

He rewinded the footage once more and slowed it down by half the normal speed. She looked at the screen, it was dark in the room and the timestamp read 12:36 am. She watched as it ticked by another minute and shook her head slightly in confusion, “What was that?”

Leonard took the footage and played it frame by frame until he stopped on the frame with a sudden light. “There’s a light on in the kitchen,” he pointed and she knew that. They kept a light on in the kitchen because Lisa generally gets a glass of ice water in the middle of the night. She looked at the light closely. She breathed out, “It looks like..”

“A human figure?” Leonard guessed. He looked back as it moved forward walking out of the light causing it to disappear. As it passed by the cameras a rainbow had bounced of the figure. He turned to Lisa, “Who or whatever this is, it can be invisible. Somehow the kitchen was reflecting of the person.”

“If it’s invisible how come light isn’t going through it?” Leonard thought for a minute and then turned to Lisa. 

“What is it can reflect what’s around it?”

“Like a mirror?” 

“Sorta.” 

“How do we find something we can’t see?” Lisa stood up straight only for an unknown force to push her backwards causing her to land on the dirty tile. 

“You ask nicely,” The voice was high pitched, female, but it was being distorted. Leonard had his hand resting on his gun looking around frantically trying to find the source of the voice. Suddenly there was a force that slammed against his shins causing him to fall forward. The cold gun had fallen out of his hand. He went to reach it but it flew across the room landing on the couch. 

In front of Len there was a light, an iridescent glow and then a figure stood in front of him. It was a female in a white long sleeve leotard and light gray combat style boots. Her skin appeared to be nude but he guessed she was were some type of protective leggings. She had a white lace mask covering her face, the eye holes were completely whited out. The figure had blonde hair. There were thick bracelets wrapped around wrists that matched a belt that hung loosely around her hips. 

Leonard when to push himself onto his hands and knees but the same force that had knocked him over had pressed his body against the dirty floor. He tried moving in any direction but it felt as if an invisible tube had tightly wrapped itself around his body. The female had crouched down and watched him struggled to move his body. She hooked her right index finger under his chin and forced his head upwards. She stared at him for a minute then smiled.

“I have a job for you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still churning away at this slowly. I did make a website and have been applying for internships so don't hate! 
> 
> I am working on getting a Beta. I'm also thinking about changing the summary because it doesn't do what I have planned and justice. Its gonna be a bit dark. Developing character relationships. Plot twist of course, it's my favorite.


	5. I'm No Hero

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am looking for a Beta. PM if you wanna help out :)

Barry wasn’t surprised to see Claire in the lab when he arrived. She had hung up a rain jacket by the door which had started dripping creating a puddle. Barry hung his jacket next to her, the spring rain sliding down and expanding the puddle beneath the wooden structure. 

Claire was busy loading a tube onto the machine when Barry had dropped his files on her desk causing her to turn towards him, “Morning,” it came out like a murmur.

“Hey,” He looked over at her desk trying to see what case she was working on. She must have noticed because she cleared her throat to get his attention. “Did you hear about the break in at the jewelry store last night?” Barry had nodded. He was there fighting the three men with plasma like guns. But he wasn’t the only one there, a woman in a white leotard had showed up and made an entrance by roundhouse kicking the youngest thief in the face. Then the woman had disappeared and reappeared right before his eyes. She had even created force fields that withstood the energy blast from the guns. Barry deemed her more of an Oliver type superhero. She was brutal and wasn’t much for talking. Unlike the man Barry took down, the two that she had rounded up had massive concussions and each had a least two broken bones. 

“Who are you?” He asked looking at her face. A white lace mask covered her eyes and cheekbones. He guessed that it was adhered to her face with some sort of adhesive because there was no straps where the mask ended on her temple. 

“You can call me Iridescent,” Her voice was disguised. She flashed him a smile and disappeared right in front of his eyes. 

“Hello?” Barry looked up at her noticing that she had continued talking even though he had stopped listening. 

“Sorry,” He rubbed the back of his neck and looked at her sheepishly, “My mind was wondering.” 

“I said,” She pushed extra emphasis on the second word, “that it’s great that there is another female superhero. I mean National City gets Supergirl, Star City gets Speedy, The Canaries and Hawkgirl? It’s about time that one made her way to Central.” She turned and grabbed the paper that was underneath her cup of coffee. She laid it on Barry’s desk and he looked down at it. There was a coffee ring to the right of the picture with Flash and the girl that had asked to be called Iridescent. The picture was taken right after the cops had taken the men into custody and he walked up to her asking who she was. The headline read in thick bold letters “Shining a light on Iridescent.” Underneath Barry noticed that Iris had signed the piece. He sighed, she must have heard it over the intercom. 

“She seems kind of brutal,” he countered.

“As is the Green Arrow.” She popped the lids of the machine and moved the tube to a rack and used an eyedropper to drop in a clear liquid making it change from blue to red.  
Barry wanted to argue but she started to talk again before he could, “There use to be sightings of her in Star City but she didn’t have a name at the time. I wonder what she is doing here.” 

“Maybe it that there is too many heroes in Star City,” Iris chirped in from the doorway. She held out a coffee to Barry and then handed one over to Claire. “Thanks,” She smiled setting it next to her empty cup. 

“I think it’s comforting to know that the Flash has some extra help. I mean what if something happens and he needs to be at two different places? Now there’s some extra hands!” Claire raised her hot coffee and smiled, “Cheer to that!” Iris laughed and tapped her own coffee to hers. 

“I think the Flash is doing fine by himself.” Barry had spat out with a frown. Iris had placed a hand on her hip and looked at him disapprovingly. She opened her mouth to say something but Claire had beat her to it. 

“Why, is it because the new hero is a girl?” 

“What? No!” He looked surprised, “I just think the Flash can handle the city by himself. He has been for awhile.” 

“But it’s also been pointed out that there is one Flash, except for that weird imposter that pops up every once in awhile. But how can one hero protect a million people every night? The Green Arrow is figuring it out and is building a team, and not just behind the scenes.” 

“Uh, Am I interrupting something?” The three bodies all turned to see Joe West standing in the doorway. 

“No,” Claire spoke up before Barry could, “Need help on a crime scene?” 

“Uh Yeah.” 

“I’ll go, need some spring air anyway.” She pulled her gloves off and walked back Joe with a file in her hands, “I’ll meet you in the lobby I need to drop this off to the Captain.”

Joe waited until she was halfway down the stairs until he turned back and looked at Barry. “Are you guess talking about Flash?” 

“Kind of, more about the new heroine.” Iris piped up. 

“She doesn’t know does she?” 

“Of course not!” 

“Good. You know for it being a secret identity, a lot of people know who you are.” Joe had mumbled before catching up with Claire and heading out.

The crime scene was outside and Claire’s mood worsened when She noticed that they bodt, too, was exposed to the harsh rain that she had gotten caught in. The body was under a tarp, an officer must have placed it over the body to preserve the remaining evidence that wasn’t washed away. 

She instructed Joe to hold the tarp while she examined the body, he look less than pleased to stand around and do nothing but he expressed his complaint in a form of a scowl. 

“Three gunshot wounds,” She muttered to Joe, turning the body on the side, “Only two exited the body. Let’s get this body to the Mortician so I can get the bullet and run it.” She stood up and motioned for two men to transport the body from the site. She looked around the site, most of blood had been washed away, and the fingerprints on the body were going to be hard to find if he had any. 

As she was walking around the site Joe came up beside her, “ Remember Carla?” Claire raised her eyebrows but nodded in agreement, “She just got back into town today. She should be there when we get back.”

“Okay. You need something? Usually I’m only the lab rat.” She picked up a piece of burred metal that had gotten caught on the storm drain with her gloved hands looking at it. As she twisted in the light Joe continued talking.

“I thought you would like to be kept up to date,” She wasn’t looking at him. She had sealed the burr into an envelope and placed it in her case shutting it. 

“Thank you,” She straightened her spine. When she was standing straight she was the same height as the older man, “Just let me know if you need anything processed.” 

“You’re not like Barry,” He walked back to his car with her, “He always wants to help, he wants to be informed. He wants to-”

“Be a hero?” Joe looked at her in surprise, “I see it Joe. He wants to help the world. He carries it on his shoulders and is burdened by things he shouldn’t be. I became a CSI to make sure the truth was known, to make sure the right people go to jail. I’m not a hero. I’m doing the right thing.”

“Doing the right thing,” He repeated, “Wouldn’t that make you a hero?” 

“No.” She opened the door to her car and pulled down her hood from her raincoat. The rain was now drizzling. “A hero puts their life on the line. A hero chooses and innocent over their own well being. I haven’t done that. I haven’t been given the opportunity.” Before Joe could continue she shut the door and turned the car on. From the outside Joe could hear a mumble of voices, he guessed that she had the radio turned on. 

The station was quiet when he returned. A few junkies were booked and a man convicted of robbery was being questioned. Barry had come down and dropped a few files and Iris had come to ask questions about the ongoing family case. Joe kept looking at the man who was handcuffed two desks away, the one being charged with robbery. 

Claire came to his desk and dropped an open file on the desk, “There was a fingerprint on the bullet in the body.” Joe grabbed the first page looking at the mugshot. Jason Fig, he read through the file then stared at the picture once again. 

“Well,” He dropped the page and nodded to the man cuffed, “He got caught robbing a house off of third.”

“He’s either stupid or there’s more to the story,” She headed towards the man with a buzz cut, “Please say he’s stupid.” 

Joe stood beside him and Claire decided to keep her distance, watching how he would react. She watched as his brow knitted together in confusion and as he shook his head violently against the accusations. Suddenly he jerked forward and in one swift movement the gun that was holstered on Joe’s side was now being pointed at him. Claire could feel her heart starting to be faster. 

Joe looked over at Claire for help, her head was turned down towards the floor and her body was rigid and stiff. As if she could feel his eyes on her she looked at him, there was something different he noted, watching how he shoulders pushed back. She walked towards Jason who turned around and pointed the gun at Claire. She looked him in he eye with a glare and a snarl on her face. He was screaming at her but she didn’t respond. 

It was almost too fast for Joe to catch. She shot her right hand out and slammed her right palm against Jason’s forearm, before the gun landed on the floor she caught it with her left and and slammned the but of the gun against the mans temple causing him to instantly go limp and drop to the floor.

Joe grabbed the gun from her hand and grabbed her shoulder turning her to face him. When she finally looked up her face was scrunched up in confusion. 

“I don’t, I didn’t” She would start her sentence but then stopped. “I don’t remember doing that,” She breathed out. 

“Adrenaline is a funny thing,” Joe offered.

“No,” she tried again, “You don’t understand.” She looked him in the eye, “I do not remember any of it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait. Projects and Spring Break got to me. Summer is coming up and I will have more time. 
> 
> I am working on other stories. One is written in my notebook, one is in my head and a few one shots so look for those.


End file.
